Library Juice 1:30 - August 26, 1998
Contents: 1. Query for Readers - Alternate Sources of Consumer Information 2. Backfired Censorship Attempt 3. Terry Link's Site on Socially Responsible Investing 4. Medical History sites, submitted by AJ Wright 5. MSRRT NEWSLETTER v.11 #4 is out, clip-art-free edition on web 6. New issue of Alternative Press Review out 7. _Choice_ Web Reviews 8. 'Esquire' magazine sez: Gary Webb Was Right! 9. Chinese News Database - sino21.com 10. FREE COPYRIGHT TUTORIAL AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL 11. President's Information Technology Advisory Committee Interim Report 12. TOC: Karen Venturella, ed., _Poor People and Library Services_ 13. Open letter on bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan 14. Quotes in the wake of the bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan 15. 2+2=4 Intellectual Freedom Website 16. Thread from alt.zines on Zines in libraries 17. ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION 18. "Filtering Out the Filters" by Chris Oakes (clever writes PICS disabler) I can't start deleting David (Burt)'s messages until he answers my question: How could Playboy possibly harm someone, in a way that they wouldn't have been harmed if I had gone in and drawn bathing suits on the girls before the person got their hands on the magazine? -Bennett Hazelton, in a message to the listserv ALAOIF _____________________________________________________________________________ 1. Query for Readers - Alternate Sources of Consumer Information At the public library where I am working as a temp, the bulk of the reference questions are consumer related, and the sources for answering them are Consumer Reports and Consumer Digest. It strikes me that this is a small part of the collection for such a large proportion of the reference questions. I wonder if any readers can suggest other sources for consumer information that can be of help in a reference collection? Please send your ideas back to me, at Rory[at]libr.org. Let me know if you don't wish your name included in any compilation of the responses. Thanks! _____________________________________________________________________________ 2. Backfired Censorship Attempt >From Chuck Shepard's "News of the Weird" "Earlier this year, Wichita Falls, TX, Baptist minister Robert Jeffress wrote a $54 check to the city library to purchase all the copies of the book "Heather Has Two Mommies" and another children's book on living with homosexual parents, with the goal of retiring them from circulation. However, subsequent publicity caused so many patrons to request the book that, according to the library's standard guidelines, it will have to order several new copies to satisfy demand. ("News of the Weird" is real news collected from the mainstream press by Chuck Shepherd. Send your clippings of weird news to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 8306, St. Petersburg, FL 33738.) _____________________________________________________________________________ 3. Terry Link's Site on Socially Responsible Investing ALA Council is following the lead of other large non-profits and has begun considering investing it's money in socially responsible investment funds. Many in the organization had never heard of the practice when the issue came to the table. Maybe you or your patron's want to know about it, or maybe you're interested in the debate within ALA. Here is Terry Link's site on the subject, based on years of research: http://www.lib.msu.edu/link/corpresp.htm _____________________________________________________________________________ 4. Medical History sites, submitted by AJ Wright *Medical History on the Internet http://www.anes.uab.edu/medhist.htm *Anesthesia History Files http://www.anes.uab.edu/aneshist/aneshist.htm AJ Wright, MLS Dept of Anesthesiology Library School of Medicine University of Alabama at Birmingham meds002[at]uabdpo.dpo.uab.edu _____________________________________________________________________________ 5. MSRRT NEWSLETTER v.11 #4 is out, clip-art-free edition on web http://www.cs.unca.edu/~davidson/msrrt/jul98.html Library Alternatives July/August 1998 v.11 #4 In this Issue Introduction "The Poor" and the General Public What I Didn't Do at ALA Cognots Infoshop Session Reading Picture Books Zine News/Info Watch World Wide Web Recommended Reading Also Noted Recommended Resources Zines and Other Periodicals Changes Catalogs Miscellaneous Books Received MSRRT Newsletter's alternative news, views, and resource listings are sent via snail mail six times a year to members of the Minnesota Library Association Social Responsibilities Round Table (MSRRT). Others subscribe by making a donation ($15 suggested) payable to MLA/MSRRT. Direct review copies and editorial mail to: Chris Dodge/Jan DeSirey, 4645 Columbus Ave.S., Minneapolis, MN 55407 USA; 612-694-8572; email: cdodge[at]sun.hennepin.lib.mn.us _____________________________________________________________________________ 6. New issue of Alternative Press Review out (From Chuck Munson) I thought I'd put in a plug for Alternative Press Review, which has just published its new issue. APR is a quarterly magazine which excerpts articles from the alternative press and reviews alternative magazines, zines, and books. I have joined the editorial collective and am working on the Fall issue. I'm looking for suggestions on institutional pricing, so email me if you have good suggestions. Alternative Press Review volume 3, number 1 Spring/Summer 1998 Contents * Alternative Press Notes * News in Brief * Letters * Bits and Pieces * GANDALF 3 convicted, freed * Everyone Is Doing Outrageous Sex: An interview with Brenda Loew * A War at Pacifica by Jesse Walker * The Pacification of Public Radio by David Barsamian (Alternative Radio) * Power to the Pussy! Celebrate the Erotic by Miss Eona and Princess Noelle Pitter-Patter (Bust) * Codex & the FDA: Is the FDA trying to subvert our freedom? by Sam Gaines (Eye) * Same-Sex Marriage by Nikki Gershbain (Border/Lines) * Journalism and the CIA by Daniel Brandt (NameBase NewsLine) * A Revolution in American Policing by Christian Parenti (Z Magazine) * America's Sex Gulags by Bill Andriette (The Guide) * Reviews of alternative press magazines, zines, and books () denote magazine article excerpted from. Regular subscriptions are $16/year by third class mail and $32/two years. First class subscriptions are $22/year and $44/two years. International subscriptions are $24/year by surface mail and $32/year by International airmail. Sample copies are $6 each ($7 each by first class mail) C.A.L. Press, POB 1446, Columbia, MO 65205-1446 USA For the Fall issue, our address will change to: PO Box 4710, Arlington, VA 22204 Send zines to be reviewed to this address. Subscriptions help us out more than bookstore sales! Available at some Borders and Barnes & Noble (we suggest you talk your independent bookstore into carrying it). -- Chuck0 http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/1672/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 7. _Choice_ Web Reviews _Choice_ Web Reviews URLs http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/supurl1.html _Choice_ Special Issue Purchasing Information http://www.ala.org/acrl/choice/98sup.html The second annual edition of _Choice_ magazine's Web supplement is available, and this site contains links to 482 reviewed sites. Of these, 390 are compiled from reviews in the magazine dating back to the August 1997 Web supplement, and 93 are newly reviewed. Twenty-five major topics are covered in the areas of Reference, Humanities, Science & Technology, and Social & Behavioral Sciences. "Teaching faculty and librarians at academic institutions in the U.S. and Canada" choose and review sites relevant to undergraduate academic libraries. _Choice_ is a product of the Association of College & Research Libraries, part of the American Library Association. Note that this site contains URLs only. For the reviews, three special articles, and a listing of forthcoming Internet related books, magazine purchasing information is provided. [JS] --- >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 8. 'Esquire' magazine sez: Gary Webb Was Right! San Jose, CA residents might especially appreciate this: ------------------------------------------ FAIR-L Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting Media analysis, critiques and news reports ------------------------------------------ 'Esquire': Gary Webb Was Right! "Two years ago, Gary Webb wrote a series of articles that said some bad things about the CIA and drug traffickers. The CIA denied the charges, and every major newspaper in the country took the agency's word for it. Gary Webb was ruined. Which is a shame, because he was right." --From 'Pariah,' a profile of Gary Webb in Esquire's current issue If you've been wondering what's happened to former San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb since his reporting on links between the contras and drug smuggling was savaged by the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other major news media, check out the September issue of Esquire, which features a profile of Webb and his story that was too hot for mainstream journalism. The article, by contributing editor Charles Bowden paints a chilling portrait of the fate that awaits reporters who veer from the government line. The article also features a brief history of the CIA/drug story and an interview with a retired DEA agent who alleges CIA involvement with drug traffickers. P.S. Gary Webb's book, 'Dark Alliance' is available from Seven Stories Press _____________________________________________________________________________ 9. Chinese News Database - sino21.com To: IFLA-L[at]INFOSERV.NLC-BNC.CA Dear Sir/Madam, The Sino21(http://www.sino21.com) has build up a new Chinese Database which included a large information in the Internet. This Database contain several past newspapers and magazines such as People's Daily (1946.6.15 - 1995.12.31), Central Daily News (1928-1949.3), the press release of America Sound, Kaogu(Archaeology) magazine(1995 till now), International Taxation in China magazine and so on. Taiwan Times(1919-1945) will be build up in the near future. In addition, Sino21 will build up other useful database for the parties to research the modern history. Otherwise, Sino21 provided a functional search engine for searching data. For example, plus condition by key word or time limitation. Sino21's Chinese database is suitable for academies, media, and commercial parties. If you are interested in this Database, please visit http://www.sino21.com. For further information, please contact Jonathan Lin(hnlin[at]hknet.com). Thank you for your attention. Sole Agency: China Education Publications Overseas Ltd Contact person: Jonathan Lin _____________________________________________________________________________ 10. FREE COPYRIGHT TUTORIAL AVAILABLE VIA EMAIL Indiana University Online Copyright Tutorial http://www.iupui.edu/it/copyinfo/online_tutorial.html The Copyright Management Center of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) offers this email tutorial for Fall Semester 1998. The tutorial is designed "to help educators move away from the fearful image of copyright as an annoying or threatening beast and to work with copyright while maintaining focus on academic pursuits." Subscribers will receive approximately three messages per week, beginning September 2, 1998 and continuing throughout the semester. While the tutorial is aimed at educators, librarians, and staff at Indiana University, anyone is welcome to join the mailing list. Content is provided by the director of the CMC, Kenneth D. Crews, who is a Professor of Law and Library and Information Science, and John O'Donnell, a Library and Information Science graduate student. More information about the tutorial is available at the above URL. [JS] To subscribe send email to: listserv[at]listserv.iupui.edu In the body of the message type: sub Copyright-Online-L [your real name] >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 11. President's Information Technology Advisory Committee Interim Report to the President, August 1998 http://www.ccic.gov/ac/interim/ The US National Coordination Office for Computing, Information, and Communications has issued this report concerning "future directions for Federal support of research and development in high performance computing, communications, information technology, and the Next Generation Internet." PITAC has concluded that federal support of information technology is inadequate and generally short-sighted. Their 60-page report is divided into five major sections that first overview information technology, and then discuss federal research priorities, potential focal points, and the implementation and management of new initiatives. The report is available in HTML and Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. [JS] --- >From the Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-1998. http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/ _____________________________________________________________________________ 12. TOC: Karen Venturella, ed., _Poor People and Library Services_ Karen Venturella, ed., _Poor People and Library Services_ (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1998) ISBN: 0-7864-0563-5 Table of Contents: Foreword, by Sandy Berman -Theory and Background: "History and Theory of Information Poverty," John Buschman "Libraries and Poverty," Karen M. Venturella -Poverty Programs for Children "Reading Can Give You a Dream," Pam Carlson "At Work in the Children's Room," Khafre K. Abif "Denver Public Library Reads Aloud to Young Children," Sharon Morris "The Beginning with Books - Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Connection," Elizabeth Segel -Access to Technology for Low-Income Groups "The Free Library of Philadelphia Technology Demonstration Project," Lillian Marrero and Sam Weinstein -Neighborhood Coalition and International Organization "Libraries in the Street," Denis Cretinon and Carl Egner "Hosmer Branch Library," Wizard Marks -Suggestions for Action "Ways to Make a Difference," Sherry Lampman "10 Reasons Why...," Joshua Cohen -Programs in Shelters and Public Housing "Libraries and the Poor: What's the Connection?" Mildred Dotson and Yolanda Bonitch "One-Site Library Centers," Mary D. Teasley and Deloris Walker-Moses -Rural Poverty Programs "Library Services to Farm Workers in West Central Florida," Kathleen de la Peña McCook and Kate Lippincott -Appendixes A. Library Services for the Poor (ALA) B. Economic Barriers to Information Access (ALA) C. Poverty Related Organizations Bibliography Notes on Contributors Index _____________________________________________________________________________ 13. Open letter on bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan From: "M.C. Rosenzweig" <iskra[at]earthlink.net> Subject: additional re:bombings Reply-To: member-forum[at]ala.org Sender: owner-member-forum[at]ala.org If you agree with this letter (below) and want to sign on, please contact me (as above) or Elaine Harger at eharger[at]tao.agoron.com. It will then be sent on early next week to the library press, other press, the President, Sec of Defense Madeleine Albright etc. Give your affiliation (for identification purpposes only). Thanks Mark Rosenzweig ALA Councilor at large - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - OPEN LETTER FROM CONCERNED LIBRARIANS ABOUT BOMBINGS OF SUDAN AND AFGHANISTAN >>The undersigned librarians, library workers, and information professionals >>deplore the bombing of Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the >>terrorist attacks of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. >> >>While there is no doubt that the perpetrators of the cowardly and deadly >>embassy attacks should be apprehended and tried, and their co-conspirators >>brought before the international bar of justice, this kind of collective >>punishment carried out by US forces at the command of President Clinton >>only fuels the flames of hatred which underlay these conflicts. It is also >>irresponsible, unethical, a probable violation of international law >>itself, and of dubious value in defending the US against terrorism. >> >>We call on the president and Congress to stay the hand of further military >>response in the interests of justice, peace, and stability, and urge that >>the capture and punishment of those responsible for the American embassy >>bombings be conducted according to international law. Mark C. Rosenzweig Professor, Hofstra University, Axinn Library >> >> _____________________________________________________________________________ 14. Quotes in the wake of the bombings of Sudan and Afghanistan "Every gun that is fired, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children . . . We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than eight thousand people . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron." - Dwight David Eisenhower "We have never interfered in the internal government of a country and have no intention of doing so, never have had any thought of that kind." -Ronald Reagan, 9-28-82 How can the one indispensable nation turn so rapidly into the one, apparently, indisposable global empire and world policeman? What has gone wrong? Why are they blowing up our embassies? Who are they? Or as a lady asked me at a political meeting in Orange County, California, during the Cold War: "I have two questions. First, what can I do as an average American housewife to fight Communism and, second, what is Communism?" -- Gore Vidal - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - (an item from AGITPROP NEWS, from the Labor Art and Mural Project) Email: lamp[at]igc.apc.org - Website: http://www.igc.apc.org/laborart To subscribe to AGITPROP NEWS, the LAMP weekly digest of news for artists and activists: Send to: listserv[at]email.rutgers.edu Message: subscribe agitprop_news (Your Name) your[at]address Spanning the Globe to: ORGANIZE - AGITATE - EDUCATE - INSPIRE _____________________________________________________________________________ 15. 2+2=4 Intellectual Freedom Website Date: Tue, 25 Aug 1998 17:15:42 -0700 (PDT) From: Steven Dunlap <sad[at]crl.com> To: ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom List <alaoif[at]ala1.ala.org> Subject: Overhaul of 2+2=4 Mime-Version: 1.0 Reply-To: sad[at]crl.com Sender: owner-alaoif[at]ala1.ala.org I have just finished making major changes to my IF web site. I have added a keyword search of the entire site. This search program looks for files in the "John Gear Archive" (a project which proved difficult using the java applet search program I started with) along with all other files in the site, including the ALA-OIF archive. One of the reasons I have not done any work on either archive for so long has been anticipation of this keyword searching feature. I got approval for putting 2+2=4 in a separate sub-directory (notice the slight change in the URL in my signature block) and just got the cgi-bin sub-directory properly configured today. As a result I will start to add files to both archives again, but will stop adding subject links I as I did before for the ala-oif archive (more work than I can do). I have also started re-thinking the archiving of this list. Unable to find a list owner to implement David Smith's suggestion that we use an outside service and faced with a huge number of posts to deal with, something has to change. I decided to weed even more rigorously than before. This means that anyone who wants to look up this or that gadfly's post to try to use his/her exact words in a stunningly urbane and witty reply will have to save the post in question themselves. I am trying to focus this site to make it a useful educational tool. Something's gotta go. Sorry. Speaking of focus, I would appreciate any suggestions, advice, etc for making 2+2=4 more useful to librarians and activists. Anyone who wishes to play around with the keyword searching and report back any problems you encounter would also help me greatly. Steven Dunlap Golden Gate University Regional Campus University Library Services Librarian 536 Mission Street sad[at]crl.com San Francisco, CA 94105 Regional Campus Nomad's page: http://internet.ggu.edu/university_library/reg 2+2=4 Intellectual Freedom page http://internet.ggu.edu/university_library/if "If you accept his assumptions, even a madman sounds reasonable." ---Russian Proverb _____________________________________________________________________________ 16. Thread from alt.zines on Zines in libraries Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 11:34:32 -0500 (CDT) X-Sender: vharris[at]acs-popmail.uchicago.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 To: librarians[at]tao.ca From: Valerie Harris <vharris[at]midway.uchicago.edu> Subject: Re: Interesting thread from alt.zines Sender: owner-librarians[at]tao.ca Precedence: bulk At 10:32 AM 8/19/98 -0700, you wrote: >chuck0[at]geocities.com wrote: >> >[snip] >> >> Basically the AIP SRRT is trying to get more of your zines into libraries. As >> most of you know, public libraries are pretty pathetic when it comes to >> carrying zines. >> chuck, this sounds like a great roundtable. I think my membership to ala has lapsed, only cuz i hadn't heard about librarians like you. i wrote a paper for a class on collecting zines, and found a number of reasons why so few are doing it. obviously, too many librarians don't even know what zines are. those who do, and have attempted acquiring them cite a number of difficulties such as the infrequency or irregularity of output, no subscription rates, too cheap! (costs anywhere from $20-$50 to cut a check through the budget office for a single issue, costing maybe a dollar); unusual payment specs such as "send 4 stamps" or "trades". I think this poses a real problem with current library trends of centralizing purchases or using subscription services such as Blackwell. Bibliographers and acquisition librarians are losing, or giving up, control of buying decisions. I fear the ultimate result will be increasingly homogeneous collections resembling chain bookstores. ><snip> James wrote: It is definitely a fact that most >libraries are pathetic when it comes to carrying zines. Should it be >otherwise? Like, I think it would be neat and all seeing some zines >around next time I went to my local library.. but is getting zines into >libraries really something worthy of an organization? >First we start trying to get zines into local libraries.. where next? >The local bookstores? >By trying to popularize zine culture, as getting zines recognized by >libraries would do, >part of the appeal, at least to me, is lost. > wow, arguments like this strike me as particularly fucked up. libraries are free resources to people who don't have the funds to buy books and such. libraries are in theory about the most subversive kinds of institutions. why do fascist governments burn books? why do small minded people seek to coerce librarians into banning books? my boyfriend related a story of the importance of having a librarian able to make individual choice in building the collection, and the profound effects that can have on a person's life. when he was a kid growing up in boise he discovered the works of philip k. dick, j.g. ballard at the library. it made him feel not so isolated and alone. the same feeling he got from being part of the punk community there later on. i don't know, i think the library is the perfect place for zines..... >Most of the people I know don't even know what zines are, and the ones >that do... the last place they'd turn to read the new issue of one of >their favourites would be a library. what do you base this idea on? >I guess what I'm getting at with this is, do zines really need to be >everywhere? People that want them, get them. Why not leave it at >that? this sounds tremendously elitist and masturbatory. > >-- >james >ween[at]geocities.com >ICQ #1797326 >--------------------------- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"Don't be nervous"~~~~~ Valerie Harris Archives and Manuscripts Assistant The University of Chicago Library email: vharris[at]midway.uchicago.edu phone: 773/702-2814 _____________________________________________________________________________ 17. ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION To: NetInLib-Announce[at]targetinform.com From: John Walker <jwalker[at]networx.on.ca> Subject: [lib-l] ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION Mime-Version: 1.0 >Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1998 10:34:00 >To: lib-l[at]makelist.com >From: John Walker <jwalker[at]networx.on.ca> >Subject: [lib-l] ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION > > ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING AND SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION "The main issue of the transition from paper to electronic publishing comes down to a simple fact: scientific journals are most intensely read by young researchers, but decisions about how these journals communicate information are made by much older editors. Thus, changes are being made according to the perceptions of the producers rather than what the consumers need, expect, and are ready to use." In "Science and Communication: An Author/Editor/User's Perspective on the Transition from Paper to Electronic Publishing" (ISSUES IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LIBRARIANSHIP, Summer 1998), Vincent H. Resh explores several commonly-held perceptions on copyright and licensing, budgetary issues, and implementation of technology in scholarly journal publishing. Resh writes from the dual perspectives of a scholar (Professor of Entomology in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at University of California, Berkeley) and an editor (The Annual Review of Entomology). His article is on the Web at http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/98-summer/article3.html Issues in Science & Technology Librarianship [ISSN 1092-1206] is a quarterly publication of the Science and Technology Section, Association of College and Research Libraries. Back issues are available on the Web at http://www.library.ucsb.edu/istl/ For more information contact: Andrea L. Duda, ISTL Editor, Davidson Library, University of California, Santa Barbara; CA 93106 USA; email: duda[at]library.ucsb.edu The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association, is a professional association of academic librarians and other interested individuals. For more information link to http://www.ala.org/acrl.html The Science and Technology Section of the ACRL provides a forum for librarians in scientific and technical subject fields. For more information link to http://aztec.lib.utk.edu/sts/ Other recent articles on electronic publishing: The theme for articles in the June 1998 issue of THE JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING (JEP) is "Reflections on the Revolution: Moving from Print to Electronic Publishing." JEP is published online by the University of Michigan Press. http://www.press.umich.edu/jep/ "Electronic Publishing Takes Journals into a New Realm: Publications Slip Off Restrictions of Print World and Carve Out a Unique Identity" by Sophie L. Wilkinson in CHEMICAL & ENGINEERING NEWS, May 18, 1998. http://pubs.acs.org/hotartcl/cenear/980518/elec.html "Educational Publishing and the WWW" by Ann Marion and Elizabeth L. Hacking. http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/98/marion/marion.html This preprint in the JOURNAL OF INTERACTIVE MEDIA IN EDUCATION (JIME) includes video demonstrations and interactive links to reader comments. JIME is peer-reviewed and published online by the Knowledge Media Institute, The Open University, UK. Other articles are available at http://www-jime.open.ac.uk/index.html "Issues and Opportunities in 'E-Publishing'" by Edna Reid in THE STAR ONLINE, August 11, 1998. http://thestar.com.my/intech/980811/edna11.html This column from a Malaysian newspaper provides a global perspective. Courtesy CIT Infobits On-line Learning Series of Courses http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/course.htm Subscribe to the 'News to receive these and hundreds more resources. http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/inews.htm Join 'Our Net', A discussion list for Netizens. To subscribe, send an empty message to ournet-subscribe[at]makelist.com ------------------------------- Excerpt from CSS Internet News (tm) ,-~~-.____ For subscription details email / | ' \ jwalker[at]hwcn.org with ( ) 0 SUBINFO CSSINEWS in the \_/-, ,----' subject line. ==== // / \-'~; /~~~(O) "On the Internet no one / __/~| / | knows you're a dog" =( _____| (_________| http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker ------------------------------- Subscribe to Lib-L http://www.networx.on.ca/~jwalker/ml.htm ____________________________________________________________ List Site: http://www.findmail.com/list/lib-l/ To unsubscribe, send to lib-l-unsubscribe[at]makelist.com FREE group e-mail lists at http://www.findmail.com ------------------------------------------ To unsubscribe from NetInLib-Announce, see http://www.targetinform.com/netinlib/ ------------------------------------------ _____________________________________________________________________________ 18. "Filtering Out the Filters" by Chris Oakes (clever writes PICS disabler) A 20-year-old college student took a stand against what he felt was Net censorship on Tuesday, and his protest took the form of code. University of Massachusetts student Brian Ristuccia posted software on his Web site designed to disable a Netscape browser feature that allows parents and others to block certain sites from view. "I think the only surefire way of not seeing content on the Net you don't want to see is by not going to [it]," he said. "No amount of technology is ever going to be the substitute for common sense." Ristuccia targeted the first implementation of a site-blocking feature in Netscape Communicator 4.06, called the Platform for Internet Content Selection, or PICS. Using PICS, a parent, librarian, teacher, or employer can deem Internet sites inappropriate on a particular browser. The feature uses a password system to prevent users from disabling PICS. After tinkering with his Unix version of Communicator, Ristuccia found he could edit the browser's preferences file and easily override the password scheme. Since making the modification is too tricky for some users or may not be technically feasible, Ristuccia posted a script to do the work automatically. The trick works on Unix, Windows NT, and Windows 95, but he said it had not been tested on either a Mac browser or Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Ristuccia had already created a proxy server that, if visited before the blocked sites, allowed users to view "censored" content. He posted the code for the server software so others could establish other filter-defeating proxy servers, he said. Netscape has not verified Ristuccia's claims, said product manager Edith Gong. If they are true, she said, the vulnerability doesn't necessarily amount to a flaw. If it is verified, she said, Netscape would address it by informing customers about preventing changes to preferences or by providing browser updates. Gong said that in supporting PICS, Netscape "is saying ... 'Look, it's an optional feature in the product. If you want to control sites, it's your choice.'" Even optional filters don't sit right with Ristuccia. PICS, and related software can be used to censor political and religious views, he said. "It's a full-fledged censorship tool." Barry Steinhardt, president of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and former associate director of the ACLU, agreed. Ristuccia's move spotlights an important freedom of speech issue in the Internet age. "I'm not saying individuals should be prohibited from using [PICS and filtering software] for personal use," said Steinhardt. "But its use in public institutions like libraries is inappropriate and, I think, unconstitutional. "[Ristuccia] has identified our greatest fear, which is that these protocols will be used by libraries, by schools -- by government in general -- to censor information." Wired Copyright Notice Copyright © 1993-98 Wired Ventures, Inc. Compilation copyright © 1998 HotWired, Inc. All rights reserved. This article is copyrighted by Wired Ventures, Inc. and may be redistributed provided that the article remains intact, with this copyright message clearly visible. Under any circumstances, this article may not be re-sold or re-distributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from Wired Ventures, Inc. _____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ | | | # # ##### ##### ## ##### # # | | # # # # # # # # # # # # | | # # ##### # # # # # # # | | # # # # ##### ###### ##### # | | # # # # # # # # # # # | | ###### # ##### # # # # # # # | | | | | | # # # # #### ###### | | # # # # # # # | | # # # # # ##### | | # # # # # # | | # # # # # # # # | | #### #### # #### ###### | | | | | | http://www.libr.org/juice/ | | | | Except where noted, items appearing in Library Juice | | are copyright-free, so feel free to share them with | | colleagues and friends. Library Juice is a free weekly | | publication edited by Rory Litwin. Original senders | | are credited wherever possible; opinions are theirs. | | Your comments and suggestions are welcome. | | mailto:Juice[at]libr.org | |__________________________________________________________|
Web Page created by Text2Web v1.3.6 by Dev Virdi
http://www.virdi.demon.co.uk/
Date: Thursday, October 29, 1998 12:04 PM